Between two seas
Encyclopedia
Between Two Seas is a children's
novel by Marie-Louise Jensen
, published in 2008. It was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
. It is about a young girl, Marianne Shaw, who sets out on a journey to Denmark in search of her father, after her mother dies in England.
, England. Marianne is the illegitimate daughter of a once wealthy English woman and a Danish father, who left her mother not knowing that she was pregnant, and promising to return to England one day. Marianne's mother is dangerously ill and on her deathbed, gives Marianne some money, telling her to search for her father in Denmark.
Marianne's mother dies, poor and friendless, living in squalid surroundings in Grimsby. And so Marianne starts the perilous journey to Skagen
, Denmark to find her father. The journey is long and hard, and finally she arrives at Skagen, now penniless and destitute, and foreign, unable to speak Danish, only to find that her father, Lars Christensen, has been dead for years! So that was the reason why he did not return for her mother!
Marianne is stranded in Skagen with nowhere to go, and so is forced to stay with a poor fisherman's family as a servant. They live in a horribly dirty house with grime on the walls and windows, where the children are covered with lice, the mother suffers from post-natal depression, the father is a drunk and they have barely enough food to live on. Nevertheless, Marianne works and lives there in exchange for a little bit of food and lodging.
Marianne is afraid to tell anyone of her birth, fearing that they will despise and ridicule her, as everyone did in London. However, she befriends a girl called Hannah, who is also an illegitimate child. She is surprised at how everyone in Skagen accepts Hannah into society and does not seem to mind about her origin. She is still afraid to tell anyone, even Hannah, about her birth, though.
She discovers that her father had a brother, who still resides in Skagen! So now she has an uncle! She contemplates on telling him about her existence, however, she decides against it on finding that he has a reputation for being a very strict man. She is afraid that he will despise her birth, even though they are family. She becomes close friends with his son, and grows to treat him like a cousin, although he himself is unaware that they are related.
She falls in love with a young fisherman named Peter, but her love for painting and rumours about her friendship with a French painter, separates them. They come together again at the end, and Peter proposes. She accepts but, saying she wants to carry on learning to paint. She is also reunited with her father, who was really the man she thought was her uncle.
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
novel by Marie-Louise Jensen
Marie-Louise Jensen
Marie-Louise Jensen is an English children's author.-Biography:Marie Louise Jensen was born in Henley-On-Thames of an English father and Danish mother. Her early years were plagued by teachers telling her to get her head out of a book and learn useless things like maths...
, published in 2008. It was shortlisted for the Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
Waterstone's Children's Book Prize
The Waterstone's Children's Book Prize is an annual award given to a work of children's literature published during the previous year. First awarded in 2005, the purpose of the prize is "to uncover hidden talent in children's writing" and is therefore open only to authors who have published no more...
. It is about a young girl, Marianne Shaw, who sets out on a journey to Denmark in search of her father, after her mother dies in England.
Plot summary
The story starts in 1885, GrimsbyGrimsby
Grimsby is a seaport on the Humber Estuary in Lincolnshire, England. It has been the administrative centre of the unitary authority area of North East Lincolnshire since 1996...
, England. Marianne is the illegitimate daughter of a once wealthy English woman and a Danish father, who left her mother not knowing that she was pregnant, and promising to return to England one day. Marianne's mother is dangerously ill and on her deathbed, gives Marianne some money, telling her to search for her father in Denmark.
Marianne's mother dies, poor and friendless, living in squalid surroundings in Grimsby. And so Marianne starts the perilous journey to Skagen
Skagen
Skagen is a projection of land and a town, with a population of 8,515 , in Region Nordjylland on the northernmost tip of Vendsyssel-Thy, a part of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark...
, Denmark to find her father. The journey is long and hard, and finally she arrives at Skagen, now penniless and destitute, and foreign, unable to speak Danish, only to find that her father, Lars Christensen, has been dead for years! So that was the reason why he did not return for her mother!
Marianne is stranded in Skagen with nowhere to go, and so is forced to stay with a poor fisherman's family as a servant. They live in a horribly dirty house with grime on the walls and windows, where the children are covered with lice, the mother suffers from post-natal depression, the father is a drunk and they have barely enough food to live on. Nevertheless, Marianne works and lives there in exchange for a little bit of food and lodging.
Marianne is afraid to tell anyone of her birth, fearing that they will despise and ridicule her, as everyone did in London. However, she befriends a girl called Hannah, who is also an illegitimate child. She is surprised at how everyone in Skagen accepts Hannah into society and does not seem to mind about her origin. She is still afraid to tell anyone, even Hannah, about her birth, though.
She discovers that her father had a brother, who still resides in Skagen! So now she has an uncle! She contemplates on telling him about her existence, however, she decides against it on finding that he has a reputation for being a very strict man. She is afraid that he will despise her birth, even though they are family. She becomes close friends with his son, and grows to treat him like a cousin, although he himself is unaware that they are related.
She falls in love with a young fisherman named Peter, but her love for painting and rumours about her friendship with a French painter, separates them. They come together again at the end, and Peter proposes. She accepts but, saying she wants to carry on learning to paint. She is also reunited with her father, who was really the man she thought was her uncle.